Isaiah 27 ~ For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness; there the calf grazes; there it lies down and strips its branches.

Still the complex, selfish Israel Jesus cried out for.  He longs to place us beneath His Wing. Photo from Domius Flevit's Church.

 Isaiah 27

In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

2 In that day,
“A pleasant vineyard, sing of it!
3 I, the Lord, am its keeper;
every moment I water it.
Lest anyone punish it,
I keep it night and day;
4 I have no wrath.
Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!
I would march against them,
I would burn them up together.
5 Or let them lay hold of my protection,
let them make peace with me,
let them make peace with me.”

6 In days to come[in those to come] Jacob shall take root,
Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
and fill the whole world with fruit.

7 Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them?
Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain?
8 Measure by measure,[Or By driving her away] by exile you contended with them;
he removed them with his fierce breath in the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:[and this is the blessing when I take away his sin]
when he makes all the stones of the altars
like chalkstones crushed to pieces,
no Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.

10 For the fortified city is solitary,
a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
there the calf grazes;
there it lies down and strips its branches.
11 When its boughs are dry, they are broken;
women come and make a fire of them.
For this is a people without discernment;
therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;
he who formed them will show them no favor.

12 In that day from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the Lord will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. 13 And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

This is Jesus.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

27 The Lord Jesus with his strong sword, the virtue of his death, and the preaching of his gospel, does and will destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, that old serpent. The world is a fruitless, worthless wilderness; but the church is a vineyard, a place that has great care taken of it, and from which precious fruits are gathered. God will keep it in the night of affliction and persecution, and in the day of peace and prosperity, the temptations of which are not less dangerous. God also takes care of the fruitfulness of this vineyard. 

We need the continual waterings of Divine grace; if these be at any time withdrawn, we wither, and come to nothing. Though God sometimes contends with his people, yet he graciously waits to be reconciled unto them. It is true, when he finds briers and thorns instead of vines, and they are set in array against him, he will tread them down and burn them. Here is a summary of the doctrine of the gospel, with which the church is to be watered every moment.

Ever since sin first entered, there has been, on God's part, a righteous quarrel, but, on man's part, most unrighteous. Here is a gracious invitation given. Pardoning mercy is called the power of our Lord; let us take hold on that. Christ crucified is the power of God. Let us by lively faith take hold on his strength who is a strength to the needy, believing there is no other name by which we can be saved, as a man that is sinking catches hold of a bough, or cord, or plank, that is in his reach. This is the only way, and it is a sure way, to be saved. God is willing to be reconciled to us.

I would add to wonderful Matthew Henry's comments ~  saying not only is the Church God's Vineyard (so many times Jesus spoke of a vineyard. A working farm producing fruit, a working place) We are God's Vineyard. I am the Vine, You are the branches.

John 15:5
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:16
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

John 15:7
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

And Isaiah 27 speaks to the final sack of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  Like a seed must drop to the ground to live. God was moving forth from just being God to the Children of Israel. This was the end of the sacrifices of the Temple of God. Jesus has become our Salvation. Isaiah has held forth the Word of God saying God's changes will come. His Plan will be established.

The Bible is living and active, the promises Isaiah has seen in the power of the Holy Spirit are for us today. Jesus is our Vine and we are the faithful, hopeful, loving branches. We live in a time unseen for 2 millenniums. Israel exists! (Cool!)

Father God, send forth this blog to be a Light, each day pray that this is so with us. Thank you. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.



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